Stranded With You

By Meyari McFarland

Min-Su stared. The interstellar comms were down. All space liner travel was cancelled indefinitely.

She was stranded.

Not acceptable.

Finding a way home pitted Min-Su against a hotel room stealing assassin named Sushila, fierce Drathanni, clone sisters with bombs and the collapse of her home planet's government.

The scary part was falling in love with Sushila despite everything against them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MDR Publishing
• Release date: Nov 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370369249

Meyari McFarland

Meyari McFarland has been telling stories since she was a small child. Her stories range from SF and Fantasy adventures to Romances but they always feature strong characters who do what they think is right no matter what gets in their way. Her series range from Space Opera Romance in the Drath series to Epic Fantasy in the Mages of Tindiere world. Other series include Matriarchies of Muirin, the Clockwork Rift Steampunk mysteries, and the Tales of Unification urban fantasy stories, plus many more. You can find all of her work on MDR Publishing's website at www.MDR-Publishing.com.

Book preview

Stranded With You

By Meyari McFarland

Other Romance Books by Meyari McFarland:

Matriarchies of Muirin:

Coming Together

Fitting In

Following the Beacon

The Solace of Her Clan

Debts to Recover:

The Nature of Beasts

Assumptions of Debt

The Manor Verse:

A New Path

Following the Trail

Crafting Home

Finding a Way

Go Between

Like Arrows of Fate

The Drath Verse

Clash of Lines

Joining of Lines

Consort of the Crystal Palace

Fragments of a Chain

Copyright ©2016 by Mary Raichle

Cover image

© Marusja2 | Dreamstime.com - Galaxy In A Free Space Photo

© Petdcat | Dreamstime.com - Attractive Modern Asian Woman Photo

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be emailed to [e-mail]

This book is also available in TPB format from all major retailers.

Dedication:

This story is dedicated to my auditing instructors--thank you for teaching me how not only to terrify people with my questions but also how to keep them calm and help them learn to be better. You made me a better person and you've helped me make the world a better place, too.

Table of Contents

1. Comms Down

2. Stolen Room

3. Sleeping Trust

4. Taking Chances

5. Diving Deeper

6. Station Rules

7. Drunken Leadership

8. Explosive Interview

9. Riding Waves

10. No Regrets

11. In System

12. Double Threat

13. The Residence

14. Dreadful Destiny

15. New Government

16. Hard Choices

17. Drathanni Teeth

18. Changed Paths

Excerpt: Joining of Lines

Afterword

1. Comms Down

Min-Su stared at the big overhead screen that was supposed to carry information on when the next ship was coming in. When all the ships were coming in. There should be at least thirty in the next twenty-four hours and all there was on the board was the image of a snarling Drathanni. What? Just… what?

The spaceport was so loud, people screaming, running around, machines binging and booming and crashing, that she couldn't hear whatever the Drathanni was saying. She couldn't hear herself think when she was in a spaceport, honestly, even at normal times. The entire place was a torment that she would have preferred to avoid but her parents had specifically requested that she come home for her spring break because Grandma was getting older and who knew if she'd survive another year to when Min-Su would graduate college and come home for good.

Not that Min-Su had any intention of moving back home to Melin. She was well off that planet and would never live there again. Visit, yes. She could do that. Live there? Certainly not. The entire point of leaving Melin for college had been to ensure that she wouldn't ever have to deal with the ridiculous politics and horrible grinding poverty of Hexal City where her family lived.

She'd told Mother that a thousand times if she'd said it once. Mother, of course, ignored all of Min-Su's protests. Her darling brilliant little girl would come home and everything would be lovely. Min-Su would find a nice boy, ew, and settle down to have a dozen or more children. Only with a baby chamber and even then it was dubious.

No boys, no babies, no going home.

Apparently there wouldn't be visit at home this week because the screen didn't clear and the chaos only increased around Min-Su. She shook her head, straightened her shoulders and carefully edged her way through the screaming, running crowd to get to the closest comm. Best to warn Mother that she'd be delayed.

At least her layover at Tasma's Station 19 wouldn't be a painful one. She already had a room reserved at one of the smaller hotels on the station. Another night shouldn't be a problem.

The comm turned out to be a problem. It showed that same snarling Drathanni. Min-Su tried to lean close to hear what it was saying but someone ran into her back, nearly smashing her face into the comm screen.

Hey! Min-Su snapped. She whirled, very aware of her little hold-out knife tucked into her sleeve. It hadn't been used since she left Melin and hopefully she wouldn't have to now. Uh. Um.

Sorry about that, a very tall, very thin, beautifully muscular woman with a frantic look in her eyes said. The crowds, you know?

Ah, yes, I do know, Min-Su said. Do you know what's going on? My hearing is quite bad and I can't make out what the Drathanni message says.

You don't know? the woman asked, eyes wide. They were a lovely color, a mixture of hazel and dark blue ringed with brown. A very nice contrast against the golden skin of a Hyun-Ju. She'd dyed her hair a stunning white-gold and that only made her look a thousand times more beautiful. Wow. Well, the Drathanni have shut down the interstellar comm system. Entirely. No comms at all anywhere. I don't know why. The message says something about breaking the rules? So, you know, none of the ships will be going in and out. They kind of need the comms to know where they are when they leave the Wave.

Min-Su stared at her. Looked at the panicked crowds. Looked back at the woman who was as thin and graceful as a blade about to strike. Oh dear. Oh dear… This was not good. Not good at all. She tapped her fingertips against her lips as she considered what to do next.

She had enough money for the overnight stay but that was all. She'd planned on being on-board tomorrow and her ticket had specified that it included room and board. So she'd hadn't brought extra money. And if the comms were down then she couldn't use the banking system to draw from her account back at her college. Which meant that she was stranded halfway home with no way to get anywhere, really. Especially if the Ceelen liner she was supposed to take home was delayed or couldn't fly.

Ah, are you okay? the woman asked.

I'm stranded, Min-Su replied with a little shrug. Just like… everyone else! Oh dear! I need to get to my hotel before they give my room away. Do please excuse me. Do you think that the comms will be back up soon?

I don't think they're ever coming back up, the woman said. She winced at the way Min-Su stared. Really, I don't. So yeah, you might want to hurry. Things are not looking good out here. I think we're ramping up to a riot and the guard aren't going to do much about it. They'll probably riot, too.

True.

Min-Su pulled out her knife, considered her belongings and then shrugged. Better to keep them than abandon them right now. Her little rolling suitcase didn't weigh that much. She could always sell her spare clothes and books. The presents she'd packed would probably bring at least a little bit of money. And she did have some food tablets tucked into the pockets as presents for her nephews. At least she would have something to eat, as repulsive as food tablets were.

The woman stared at the knife, eyes wide, and then grinned so widely that Min-Su shook her head.

I'm from Melin, Min-Su said. It's expected.

So am I! the woman exclaimed. Is that where you were going? Because I was trying to get back home and now all of this.

I was. Min-Su nodded, a little more shyly. It was rare to see someone with Hyun-Ju narrow noses and lean bodies on Melin. The Hyun-Ju normally stayed on their space ships and fought with the Ceelen. But at least they were discreet warriors. They rarely attacked people randomly. And Min-Su's short stature, round face and dark brown skin marked her as Melin born and bred, not Ceelen. She was as far as she could get from the Ceelen's dark black skin, kinky hair and long limbs as she could be.

The woman pressed her hands together in a hopeful prayer. You wouldn't happen to have your own ship, would you?

Oh, no, definitely not. Min-Su laughed, flapping one hand at her. The one without the knife, of course. I had passage on one of the Ceelen liners. It was supposed to be a three-day trip to get there, spend a week and then three back.

Darn, the woman sighed. Well, it was worth a try. Good luck with your hotel.

And you with your travel plans, Min-Su said.

The woman slipped into the rampaging crowd, which really was edging towards a proper riot that would have done Hexal City proud, and disappeared. Min-Su shrugged and began her struggle towards her hotel. It wasn't easy. The crowds of people on the station tended to be a head or more taller than she was. But Min-Su was stocky and she was Melin-bred.

She shoved elbows into kidneys, knifed one man in the thigh when he tried to steal her bag, and eventually won her way out of the main concourse, back into the sparser streets of the entertainment district and then into the back streets that ran under the garden level where people lived.

It was quiet at this level of the station. Very few people were out. She saw one woman poke her head out of her door and then gasp, darting back inside, when she saw Min-Su. Though it might have been Min-Su's bloody knife that sent her hiding. Hardly mattered.

What mattered was that after an hour of careful, determined walking Min-Su hauled her suitcase up the non-functional escalator that led to her hotel.

Which, hooray! Was actually open. The door was guarded by several big burly men with blasters at the ready but they didn't seem at all intimidated by Min-Su. She bowed properly to them, sighed, and then headed towards the door.

Ah, we're full, the right guard said. Rather hesitantly.

I have a reservation, Min-Su said.

The guards exchanged looks, plainly asking which of them was going to tell her that it didn't matter. Min-Su shifted her grip on her knife, remembered what it was like to walk through the Undercity by yourself in the dead of night, and raised her chin. The guards started to sweat. And then fidget. And then they moved aside.

One hurdle down. Now for the front desk staff who looked at her with enough horror that Min-Su kept her Undercity mannerisms as she marched in with her little rolling suitcase.

We're full, the tallest clerk said. He was quite tall, about six foot, with pale enough skin that he might be Gensyn. Or perhaps an exile from Old Earth who'd tanned once he left home.

I have a reservation, Min-Su said. It's prepaid.

I'm very sorry but we're full, the man repeated. His tag read 'Omar'.

My reservation, Min-Su said more slowly and with that shift of the grip on her knife that always made people twitch, is prepaid. In full. And confirmed. My name in Min-Su Truman.

Omar started to sweat. He opened his mouth, shut it, started tapping away at the computer as she glared a hole in his forehead. Or at least tried to. The hotel lobby, all ten feet square of it, was empty. Silent. The other clerk, a sweet-faced young girl who had to be less than nineteen, watched Min-Su with absolute terror on her face.

You've… already checked in? Oman said, blinking at the computer. About ten minutes ago.

Really? Min-Su asked. And you did, of course, check this person's ID, yes? With the proper picture and voice prints that I submitted to you when I prepaid. In full.

Oman opened his mouth, shut it, and then shuddered. No, ma'am.

She stared at him until beads of sweat dripped down his forehead, puddled on his upper lip. The girl cringed behind the counter as she slowly crouched lower and lower. Eventually Omar broke, just as Min-Su had expected. If she'd been able to battle her mother into submission to get to go off planet for college, then a random hotel clerk was no match.

I don't know who she was, Omar said, voice shaking as he called up the image of Min-Su's spaceport tall and thin woman, but she had all the proper information. She said that she was going home for spring break. I'm so very sorry, ma'am. I'll, I'll call security, have her thrown out.

Min-Su stared at the image. Stared some more.

Interesting. It hadn't been a chance encounter. She'd been targeted. Which meant that her mystery woman with the Hyun-Ju features was probably going to try to steal Min-Su's passage on the Ceelen liner, too. Perhaps her whole identity though Min-Su had no idea why someone would want to be her.

No, that won't be necessary, Min-Su said. She tucked her knife away and then gestured towards Oman. Just make me a second key. She was supposed to show up tomorrow so that we could travel together. I suppose she thought it would be funny to surprise me this way. She never has had any common sense when it comes to jokes.

Omar blinked and then sagged, letting out a gust of air that was just a bit too forceful to be a sigh. He nodded and quickly coded a key for her. It was one of the tiny ones, the rings that you adjusted to fit your finger. Min-Su slipped it on and then nodded her thanks.

I do apologize for threatening you, Min-Su said with one of her most proper bows. But if you'd insisted I couldn't have a room I would have had to insist on a refund and damages. Really, it's just better for everyone if we don't have to do that.

I'd be fired, Omar complained. He rubbed a hand over his hair, rubbed his palm against his thigh. Thank you for being so considerate, ma'am. Would you like one of the bellhops to help you to your room?

No, that's all right, Min-Su said. She smiled, bowed again, and then headed down the hallway that led off the too-quiet little lobby. Time to go confront her identity thief. If Min-Su was very, very lucky they'd share the room for the night. If not, well, Min-Su would do her best to make sure that she was the one who survived the encounter.

Though there was something about the other woman that made Min-Su wonder if even her survival skills, honed in the Undercity of Hexal City, would be enough for her to survive a real fight. Best not to risk it. They were both in the same boat so Min-Su would just have to convince the other woman that they should team up for the